Slack Definition
slăk
slacked, slacker, slackest, slacking, slacks
adjective
slacker, slackest
Slow; idle; sluggish.
Webster's New World
Barely moving.
Webster's New World
Lacking in activity; not busy.
A slack season for the travel business.
American Heritage
Loose; relaxed; not tight, taut, or firm.
Webster's New World
Characterized by little work, trade, or business; not busy or active; dull.
A slack period.
Webster's New World
verb
slacked, slacking, slacks
To make looser or less taut.
Slacked the sail.
American Heritage
To make slack; slacken.
Webster's New World
To be idle, careless, or negligent.
Webster's New World
To slake.
Webster's New World
To be or become slack; slacken.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
noun
slacks
A part that is slack or hangs loose.
Webster's New World
A lack of tension or tautness; looseness.
Webster's New World
A period of lessened activity, production, etc.; lull.
Webster's New World
A stoppage of movement, as in a current.
Webster's New World
An area of still water.
American Heritage
adverb
In a slack manner; so as to be slack.
Webster's New World
Slackly.
Slack dried hops.
Wiktionary
idiom
cut
- To make an allowance for (someone), as in allowing more time to finish something.
American Heritage
cut someone some slack
- to be less demanding of someone; ease up on someone
Webster's New World
pick up the slack
- to address or remedy a lag, underperformance, etc.
Webster's New World
slack off
- to slacken
Webster's New World
Other Word Forms of Slack
Noun
Singular:
slack
Plural:
slacksAdjective
Base Form:
slack
Superlative:
slackestIdioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Slack
- cut
- cut someone some slack
- pick up the slack
- slack off
Origin of Slack
-
Middle English slak from Old English slæc slēg- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Middle English slak from Old Norse slakki
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
-
For sense of coal dust, compare slag.
From Wiktionary
Middle English sleck
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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